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New York Nuclear Dollars

New York state would like to provide $1 billion of ratepayer-generated subsidies to its financially ailing nuclear plant operators in the next two years, according to a report in the New York Times.

The effort will last up to a dozen years and will be part of the state’s coordinated efforts to cut greenhouse gas emissions tied to the generation of electricity.

The New York Public Service Commission is considering the proposal.

“From the state’s perspective, the subsidies are not simply handouts, but a way of putting a dollar value on the benefits of a reliable carbon-free power source,” the Times reported.” Propping them up for now, supporters say, will give the state time to foster a stable mix of renewable energy sources.”

Exelon owns two upstate New York nuclear power plants covered by the proposal and is moving to acquire the upstate FitzPatrick unit from Entergy – and it also would be covered by the subsidy effort.

“The plants accounted for about a third of the power New York generated last year, as well as more than half of its emissions-free energy,” the report said.

The Indian Point nuclear plant near New York City is not a part of the arrangement.